ABSTRACT Diversifying pastures with forage legumes may reduce nitrogen fertilization due to biological N fixation. This study aimed to quantify forage accumulation rate and macronutrients extraction and to identify the best intercropping combination between butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) – a legume, and three warm-season forage grasses of different growth habits (signalgrass – Urochloa decumbunes, Guinea grass – Mega thyrsus maximus, and bermudagrass Cynodon dactylon). Treatments consisted of mixes of perennial herbaceous legume, butterfly pea (twining stem), with grasses, signalgrass (decumbent […]

The input of organic residues associated with the humification process promotes improvement of soil properties and enables the sustainability of the production system. Aside from supplying the coffee with nutrients, pulse crops can improve the quality of soil organic matter by forming humic substances. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of green manures legumes on the quality of humic substances in soils under coffee under two environmental conditions in the region of Zona da Mata, in […]

Dry mass production, decomposition rate and nitrogen (N) release were evaluated in a field experiment under seven cover crop types: pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum sin. typhoides), brachiaria grass (Brachiaria brizantha), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Mill sp), sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) and black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb), compared to a fallow and a traditional cropping system (control) in a cerrado soil (Uberaba-MG, Brazil). Among the tested cover crops, pearl millet and sunn hemp presented higher […]

No-tillage has been increasingly adopted by farmers in South Brazil and it has increased the interest for the mixtures of cover crops in the autumn/winter as source of nitrogen to the corn in succession. A field experiment was carried out on a typic Hapludalf at the experimental area of the Soil Science Department, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, in 1998/99 and 1999/00 to evaluate the effect of single crop and mixtures of […]

This greenhouse experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Rhizobium on dry matter production, N uptake and efficiency of use in Eucalyptus grandis and Sesbania virgata plants grown in intercropping systems. The transfer of N from Sesbania virgata to Eucalyptus was also evaluated, using the isotope 15N. The treatments were: with or without inoculation of both plant species with AMF and with or without inoculation of S. virgata with Rhizobium. Plastic pots divided […]

The use of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria can be a low-cost alternative to agroforestry systems in the Amazônia, where prices, transport, and producers’ low buying capacity make the use of soluble fertilizers difficult. On soils without a cultivation past, phosphates are combined mainly to Al, while on previously limed and cultivated soils, these phosphates are combined with Ca, limiting their use by plants. There is little information on phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (BSF) in the Amazon; thus, further studies are needed. The first step […]